French Ambassador in Cairo Eric Chevallier highlighted the strong ties and coordination between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Chevallier made the remarks during an interview with the Middle East News Agency (MENA) on the occasion of his country’s national day on Sunday.
Chevallier lauded the historic ties between Cairo and Paris in various domains, terming them as very strong at the political level.
He highlighted the distinguished ties between Cairo and Paris and the “deep and strong” relations between the two countries’ peoples.
He noted that continued coordination between Egypt and France vis-a-vis regional and international issues, was quite clear in addressing the Gaza crisis that broke out about nine months ago.
Concerning French investments in Egypt, the French envoy said there are about 200 French companies in Egypt securing over 50,000 direct jobs in addition to indirect jobs.
He noted that the volume of French investments stood at about 5.5 billion euros.
French companies investing in Egypt operate in important domains, including health, up-to-date technology, energy and renewable energy and transport, he added.
He said the French companies consider Egypt a big market and a centre of the Middle East, Arab world and Africa.
Chevallier added that more French companies are interested in injecting more investments into Egypt.
Regarding Egyptian-EU relations, the ambassador highlighted the importance of the partnership between the two sides which has recently been elevated to the strategic and comprehensive level.
He noted that France is one of the partners in the Grand Egyptian Museum as it supports the establishment of a major library in the museum.
He also highlighted the importance of francophone in Egypt, adding that there are three million French-speaking citizens in Egypt and over one million Egyptians studying in French.
He noted that Egypt is a member of the International Organisation of La Francophonie.
He highlighted the key role of the Université Senghor in Alexandria whose activities will be expanded soon in light of the new HQ in New Borg El Arab city.
Chevallier referred to the establishment of the new HQ of the French University in Egypt’s Shorouk City, noting that it is a new starting point for the university.
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